Sole-leveling machine.



W. C. MEYER.

SOLE LEVELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. I915.

Patented Jan. 22,1918.

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5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

mwwzzafww W. C. MEYER.

SOLE LEVELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1915.

Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2- W. C. MEYER.

SOLE L EVELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1915.

1 y fiiig fifi Patented J an. 22, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITN E55 |NVENTOR W. C. MEYER.

SOLE LEVELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED' APR. 9. I315.

Patented Jan. '22, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4- w. c. MEYER;

SOLE LEVELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1915.

1 ;%5% $5 6 0 Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

lUNllTElU Wlbdfifid ATEhlT WILLIAM C. MEYER, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS$IGN MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SOLE-LEVELING MACHINE.

Application filed April 9, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLLXM C. Marne, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State oi Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sole-Leveling Machines; and I do hereby declare the :t'0llowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperlains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to sole leveling inachines, and particularly to that class of sole leveling machines which comprise a shoe supporting jack and a suitable leveling device relatively movable to change the relative longitudinal position of the leveling device and. jack.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved leveling device Which can. be actuated to give the sole a rolling action and also a rubbing action during the leveling operation. In accordance with this o-bject..one feature of the invention contemplates the provision in a sole leveling machine having a jack for supporting a shoe, of a leveling device which may be adjusted to exert a rubbing pressure on the sole of the shoe always in a direction toward the margin of the sole While the de ice is acting on the sole between the toe and the breast line during the relative traverse of the jack and said device. Broadly considered, the invention contemplates the provision in sole leveling machine of any suitable device which may be manipulated to give arubbing action on the sole. In practising the invention, however, it ispreferred to employ the usual leveling roll tor producing a rubbing action, at the same time making use of the ordinary rolling action of the roll. By securing a rubbing action of the roll during the leveling operation, the uneven portions of the sole will be smoothed out, and the sole vcill be polished to substantially agree with the finish obtained. by a rub-stick in the hand leveling operation.

When operating on shoes having a channeled outsole, the channel can be closed up and Worked out more smoothly by a rubbing action than with a rolling action. In closing the channel, however, the rubbing action should always be outwardly across the flap to pull the fiap out smoothly to cover the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jano 252, 191%.

Serial No. 20,250.

recess from which it was taken. The channeled sole has a contour of a series of conave and convex surfaces and an outline ol' a number of reverse curves. To properly shape the different surfaces on the sole, the roll of the machine hereinafter described is tipped as it advances back and forth along the sole from the toe to the heel breast line. Since the relative movement of the roll and j aclz, as Well as the vibration which the roll has, are in a line substantially parallel. with the medial line of the shoe, it the tipped roll were to rub in only one direction it would rub the channel outwardly in some portions of the sole, and rub the channel inwardly at other portions or" the sole. For this reason, when the curvature of the sole and the line of advance of the roll converge, the roll should rub in the direction of its advance, and when the curvature of the sole and the line of advance of the roll diverge, the roll should rub in a direction opposite to its line of advance. To accomplish this result the roll is provided with a one-direction, double-acting clutch, so that in its vibration it may be locked to roll in one direction and rub in the other, and it may be set to rub in either direction vvhilc rolling in the opposite direction. This clutch is comiected with a cam which is so timed that as the curvature of the sole changes, the roll will be actuated to rub the solo in a direction to lay the channel in a smooth, fiat position. It is obvious that as the general shape or style of: the sole is changed, it Will be necessary to employ a. cam Which corresponds to the sole to be leveled.

Other features of the invention consist in certain devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art to ivhich it appertains.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an. automatic leveling machine embodying the improved roll. mechanism; Fig. is a plan view of the machine showing the mounting of. the roll locking mechanism thereon; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine with parts removed to show the roll locking cam and its connection with the roll; Fig. 4 is a plan view partly in section, of the roll carrier, showing the mounting of the roll and its locking mechanism thereon; Fig. is a side elevation of the roll carrier shown in Fig. l; Fig, 6 is an end elevation of the roll carrier, showing the mounting of the roll and vits locking mechanism; Fig. 7 is a diagrann matic view of a sole, illustrating approximately the operative course of the roll mechanism upon the sole during the leveling operation; Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail end view of the vleveling roll showing the roll locking mechanism; and Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 8.

The machine shown in the illust 'ated embodiment of the invention comprises two shoe su 'i mrting jacks, two vibrating sole leveling rolls co iperating respectively there leveling rolls 16 are mounted to vibrate in roll carriers 18 securedto sleeves mounted to turn in roll carrying beds 20 which are pivotally mounted at in the upper rear portion of the machine frame. The jacks and the mechanism for vibrating the rolls are substantially tl e same as shown and described in the co-pcnding application for a leveling 'machine of Baxter, Serial No. 750,326, filed l ebruary 24, 1.91.3, to which reference is hereby made. Each leveling 7 roll is vibrated by means of an eccentric 2a which is mounted on a constantly rotating shaft '25 journaleil in the upper rear portion of the machine frame. The eccentric acts upon a rod extending through the sleeve to which the roll carrier 18 is secured. The rod 28 is provided at its forward end with a yoke 30 which supports a shaft upon which the roll 16 mounted. In the present embodiment of the invention the hand rod for adjusting the c): tent of vibration of the leveling rolls is elevated from the position shown in the Baxter application. The adjusting rod 3 L is mounted to rotate freely in a bracket 38 attached to the machine frame, and the end is loosely mounted in a hearing on an adjusting slide l0, Below the adjusting rod is mounted an auxiliary adjusting rod 42 which is freely rotatable in the b'acket and has a threaded engagement with the slide 40. The rods 34 and 42. are connected by the gears 44- so that movement imparted tion of the construction and operation of r the parts. The relative traverse of ajack and roll to mold the various surfaces of the sole is secured by means of a series of links and levers which connect the jack with a cam l8 on the disk 50 and ajcooperating cam 52 on the disk The mechanism for tipping the rolls during the leveling operation to change the rel- 7 ative lateral inclination of thejack andiits cooperating roll is the same as that shown and describedin the patent to Vi inkley, No. 889,287, dated June 2, 1908', to. which reference is made for a detailed description of the construction and operation of' parts;

The machine is provided with cam (not shown) on the face of the cam d1sk50 opposite the cam 48. This cam is connected by a series of links and levers with thesleeves of the roll carriers 18 and operates to change the inclination of the rolls during the level- 7 ing operation. The leveling rollusually employed inautomat-ic leveling machines freely rotatable upon the shaft 32-so that during the relative traverse of the-roll and jack, the roll has a rolling action on the sole,

due to the vibration of the yoke QOJ In order however, to secure the advantageous results obtained by a rubbing actionupon the sole during the leveling operation, the roll 16 of the machine illustrated'in the drawings is pro vidcd with a reversibly look ing one-directionclutch by which the roll may be locked to its shaft to impart a rubbing action to the sole. This clutch, moreover, may be set in a neutral position which will allow the roll to rotate freely in either direction. hen the clutch is set'to give a rubbing action in. one direction the roll will have a rolling action in the opposite direction. The machine is provided with two leveling rolls having a roll locking mechanism for each, and since these rolls and their locking mechanism are similar. only one will be described in this-specification. The clutch mechanism consists of a fixed member '56 (Figs. 4 and 5:) which is keyed to the shaft The fixed member 56 has a series of flat portions 58 formed a on its periphery and oppositethese port-ions are placed a series of rollers 60 which are freely rotatable about the member 56. Between the rollers 58 and the roll 16 is placed a friction ring 64 which is secured to the roll 16. By moving the roller carrier the clutch may be set to lock the roll to rub in either direction, and also to a neutral position in which it is free to roll in either direction. The roller carrier 62 is provided with a stud 66 which is pivotally connected by means of a stiff spring 68 with a bell crank 70 mounted on a bracket 72 secured to the roll carrier 18. Since the clutch vibrates with the roll this yielding pivotal connection between the hell crank '70 and the stud 66 permits a free vibration of the roll without altering the'setting of the clutch. The oscillation of the bell crank 70 to vary the setting of the carrier is obtained by means of a rod 7 1 pivoted at one end of the bell crank 70 and slidably mounted near the other end in a bracket 76 secured to the roll carrier 18. The end of the rod 74 is connected with a locking slide '78 which is mounted in guides 80 on the side of the roll carryingbcd 2-0. The slide is operatively connected by means of an arm 82 to a rock shaft St which is journaled in a pair of brackets 86 attached to the machine frame (see Figs. 3 and An arm 88 rigidly secured to the rock shaft is pivotally connected to the upper end of a cam link 90, and the lower end of the link is provided with a yoke 92 which is slidably mounted on a hub on the cam shaft 9 1. On the side of the cam link is mounted a roller 96 which works in a roll locking cam 98 formed on the side of a cam disk 100 keyed on the main cam shaft 94.. The motion imparted to the link by the cam 98 tends to rock the shaft 8% and with it the lever 82- to imwart a reci rocatin motion to the lockin 1 z:

slide 7 8. A. reciprocation of the slide will actuate the rod 74 to rock the bell crank 70 and rotate the roller carrier 60. To provide for the oscillation of the roll carrying bed 20 the locking slide 7 8 is provided with a pair ofguid'es102 between which slides a block 104- that is pivoted to the end lever 82. The locking slide 78 has a head 106 provided with a segmental groove 108 (see Fig 6) in which. travels a roll 110 locked on the end of the rod 7%. With. this structure the connection between the locking slide and the rod T l is maintained while permitting the roll carrier to freely tip during the leveling operation.

The operation of the machine is fol.- lows: Referring more particularly to Fig. 7, the line 7-7 illustrates approximately the ball line of the sole, the line 8-8, the breast line of the sole, and the line 9-9 is approximately the center line of the shank. Lines 'T7 and 9-9 are located in approximately the widest portion and the narrowest portion of the sole, and at these portions the curvature of the sole changes so that these lines are used as reference points for the change of direction of the rubbing of the roll. l-Vhcn a shoe has been placed on the jack and the machine started, the jack oscillates to bring the toe end of the sole under the roll and then follow the course shown in dotted lines and in the directions indicated by the large. arrows. The small arrows on thedotted lines show the direction of rubbing of the leveling roll. In carrying out this cycle of operation the roll enters at the center of the sole, advances down the center, and works across the shank from the center outward, around the outside margin down the center, and then over from the center toward the inside shank and around the inside forepart, so that the tendency is always to close the channel flap and be working gradually from the center to ward the outside margin with a rolling and rubbing action. It will be seen that while the roll is operating on the shank, the direction of rubbing gradually reverses each time it crosses the center line of the shank, and while the roll is advancing around the margin of the fore part, the roll rubs toward the toe. In leveling the central portion of the fore part, the roll is not locked, but rolls freely as it is vibrated. With this method of operation the roll will not open up the channel flap on the outside shank and forepart while it is operating on. inside shank and forepart. The combined rolling and rubbing operations lay the channel flap very smoothly and rub out the uneven surface of the sole.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to details of construction and operation of the illustrated embodiment, and although described as bein used in an automatic leveling machine, it is obvious that the invention could be e1nbodied in many of the various types of leveling machines.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated, and the preferred embodiment of the invention having been specifically described, what is claimed as new is:

1. A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a jack for supporting a shoe having a sole attached thereto, a vibratory sole leveling device, mechanism for causing a relative traverse of the device and the jack in a. straight line to cause the device to move from the toe to the breast of the heel and vice versa, and automatically controlled means to actuate the device to always rub the sole in a. direction to close and press down the channel flap of the sole.

:2. A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a shoe supporting jack, a sole leveling member, means to operate the leveling member to give a rolling and a separate rubbing action upon the sole of the'shoe supported upon the ack, and automatic mechanism for controlling said member to give roll to only a rolling action on certain parts of the sole and combined rolling and rubbing ac tion on other parts of the sole. 7

3. A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a vibratory leveling roll, a shoe supporting jack, mechanism for causing a relative traverse of the roll and jack to cause the device to move from the tip of the toe to the breast of the heel and vice versa, and mechanism for automatically controlling the operation of the roll to set it to rub the entire margin of the sole outwardly.

t. A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a shoe supporting jack, means to exert a rolling and a separate rubbing action upon the sole of the shoe supported upon the jack, and automatic mechanism for reversing the direction of the rubbing of said means.

5 A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, ashoe supporting jack, a sole leveling roll, means for tipping the roll to change the point of action of the roll on the shoe, and means to automatically lock the give a rubbing action to the sole of the sho 6. A. sole leveling machine having, in combination, a shoe supporting jack, a sole leveling roll, means for vibrating the roll, means for tipping the roll to change the position of operation 01" the roll on the sole, mechanism to lock the roll from rotation in one direetion whereby the roll will have a rubbing action and a separate rolling action upon the sole, and cam operated means for controlling saidlocking mechanism to cause the roll always to rub outwardly in a direction to close the channel flap of the sole.

7. A sole leveling machine, having, in

combination, a jack for supporting a shoe having a curved outline, a roll for leveling the sole of a shoe supported upon the jack, means to vibrate the roll in a path substantially parallel. with the medianline of the shoe, means to lock the roll to rub the sole outwardly, and automatically operated means to reverse the direction of rubbing for changes of the curvature of the sole from convergent to the median line of thesole to divergent to the median line of the sole or vice versa.

8. A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a shoe supporting jack, a leveling roll, means for causing a relative traverse of the roll and jack to cause the roll to move back and forth from the ball line to the breast line of the sole of the shoe upon the jack, means to actuate the roll to rub the sole, and automatically operated means to reverse the direction oi rubbing at about the center line of the shank of the sole.

9. A sole leveling machine, having, in

combination, a shoe supporting jack, a leveling roll, means for relatively actuating the 10. A sole leveling machine, having, in

combination, a leveling roll, a shoe supporting jack, means for changing the relative longitudinal position of the roll and jack, a one-direction clutch connected to the roll, a cannand connections between the cam and clutch to automatically lock the roll from rota-tion'to give a rubbing action on the sole of a shoe. r

11. A. sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a shoe supporting jack, a leve1- ing roll, a tipping frame for supporting the frame and roll, means for tipping the roll, a clutchon the roll, a clutch controlling cam and stationary frame, and connections be tween said roll and cam by which the roll may be locked from rotation. 7

12A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a shoe supporting ack, a leveling roll, mechanism for changing the relative longitudinal position of the jack and roll, a clutch connected with the roll, and

portion of the shoe sole respec- V means to automatically set theclutch during the relative movement of the roll and jack so that theroll will exert arolling action in either direction or will give a rubbing action in either direction. 1 i

13A sole leveling machine, having, in combination, a leveling roll, means for lockin g the roll against rotation when moving in one direction to give a rubbing action, and

means tor reversing the rubbing movement during the contiinioustraverse of the roll along one margin otthe sole.

14. A sole leveling machine, having,'in'

combination, a jack for supporting ashoe having a sole attached thereto, a sole leveling device, mechanism for causing a relative traverse o1 the device and the jack to cause the device to. advance. from the toe to the breast of the heel and vice versa, and means to actuate the device to rub the sole in the direction of advance of the device when the curvature of the sole and the line of advance of the device-converge, and to rub the sole in a' direction. opposite to the line of advance of the device when the curvature of the sole and the line of advance of the roll diverge. V i V r c 15. A sole leveling machine, having,-in combination, a shoe supporting jack, a sole leveling roll mounted to be freely rotatable, means to cause a relative traverse of the roll and jack to cause the roll to move longitudinally of the sole, means to vibrate the roll to give a rolling action onthe sole in opposite directions, and means operated automaticlinally of the sole, means to vibrate the roll cally to lock the roll from rotation to give a to give a rolling action to the sole in opposite 10 rubbing action to the sole. directions, and means operated automati- 16. A sole leveling machine, having, in cally to lock the roll from rotation in one 5 combination, a shoe supporting jack, a sole direction only to cause a combined rolling leveling roll mounted to be freely rotatable, and rubbing action to the sole. means to cause a relative traverse of the roll and jack to cause the roll to move longitu- WILLIAM C. MEYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents-1, Washington, I). C.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,254,256, granted January 22, 1918, upon the application of William 0. Meyer, of Beverly, Massachusetts, for

an improvement in Sole-Leveling Machines, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 4, claim 11, strike out line 87 and insert the Words and commas roll, means for tipping the frame and roll, a; and

that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and. sealed this 26th day of February, "A. 1)., 1918.

F. V. H. CLAY,

[SEAL] Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl. 12--34. 

